Press Release
June 27, 2006

KNP SHOULD NOW BE DEEMED DISSOLVED -- PIMENTEL

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Nene Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP), the umbrella organization of opposition parties during the 2004 elections, should now be considered dissolved since it has already outlived its usefulness.

Pimentel, Chairman of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) said his party will formally inform the Commission on Elections that it is no longer part of the KNP, which has been inactive anyway since the last elections.

Indeed, there is no need to a keep a coalition that no longer serves its purpose, he said.

In fact, it is my view that the coalition was dissolved after the elections of 2004, the purpose for which it was organized. Now, the LDP may already have its own agenda. Unless that agenda is collectively defined with its coalition partners, it may be best to formally declare the coalition ended.

Meanwhile, Pimentel said he welcomes the report that the Liberal Party and the Nacionalista Party have started exploring the possibility of coalescing for the 2007 elections.

The projected coalition of the LP and the NP for the 2007 elections is a good move for short-term political gains, he said.

It is, however, a reflection of the lack of specific platforms that differentiate one party from the other. Which is why political parties of the country are essentially weak and victory in partisan contests rely more on the personal popularity of the candidates than on party platforms.

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